We got to Pine Cove campground on Dillon Lake just before suppert
We missed getting a lakeside site by just a few minutes, but as always there were lots of sites on the other side. We waited 2 days for a lakeside site, as we did not want to sit around the RV waiting for someone to leave the next day. However, on our third day, we were able to move and landed right beside the couple that we had met on our previous visit whom Chuck had wanted to see again. (They had been there when we arrived, but somehow, being on the other side of the parking lot we felt a bit odd going over to say hello — go figure!)
We stayed at Dillon Lake for 10 days, so we did several kayak and bicycle trips multiple times. So, unlike most of the blog entries, I am going to organize this one by activity.
On Wednesday we biked around the lake on the paved bicycle trail. This is 19 miles of trail, including an 1100 foot elevation gain and some other hills. In the direction we did the loop, we climbed Swan Mountain on a designated bicycle lane of the main road and descended on an off-road path.
If you do the trail in the opposite direction, you share the descent right on the road. Lots of cyclists were doing it, but we were happy with our direction choice.
I am being very careful about altitude effects. After a few stops on the way up to catch my breath, I did the last couple of hundred feet walking.
At the highest point on the road/bike path, there is a walking loop with great vistas over the lake, lots of walkers, and many ground squirrels and chipmunks hoping that the walkers will ignore the “do not feed the wildlife” signs. (Lots of bags of “wildlife food” and unshelled peanuts were in evidence.)
After the walking loop, there is a long downhill(offroad), a brief climb, and then it is pretty much flat except for a climb up to the town of Dillon.
As always, there was a stunning display of wildflowers.
We decided to stop for lunch in Dillon, which is the first town directly on the route. Although rain was threatening as we left, there were only a few sprinkles as we continued along the lakeshore and Dillon Dam, and then through the various campgrounds back to Frisco. We had done the Dillon to Frisco portion on our first visit to the area, back on July 18, but it seemed longer after doing the climb up Swan Mountain.
We did the loop again the following Wednesday. I thought it would be easier the second time round, but I still found the climb up Swan Mountain to be too much, and had to walk part of the way. We did have enough energy at the end of the ride to do some grocery shopping in Frisco before doing the final 1/2 mile back to the campsite.
After our first circum-lake ride, we spent the next morning at the campground, waiting for a lakeside site. We hoped to take a paddle after lunch, but multiple thunderstorms swept through the area. In between storms, it was sunny and pleasant, so we just hung out and watched the humming birds.
The campground is now literally buzzing with hummingbirds. They were attacking anything red — car and RV taillights, bicycle reflectors, Chuck’s red chairs. Our neighbor put up a feeder (strictly speaking, not allowed) and over the next few days we saw as many as 5 at a time either at the feeder or trying to chase off other hummingbirds. There seem to be 2 types of hummingbird – green and brown – but green are prevalent. According to the internet, there are 4 local species and several others travel through.
This campground is remarkably sociable. We met Leanne and Devon, Karen and Adam (hummingbird folks), Janis and Bill, Jodi (Suite T Travato girl), Rick (motorcycle guy), and Ralph. We spent a lot of time over the next week chatting, sharing Leanne and Devon’s campfire, and doing a few things with Jodi. On Tuesday (but I am getting ahead of myself) we all went out to $2 taco night at the Rio Grande restaurant — 16 people including a few of Karen’s friends whom we had not previously met. We also had a lot more casual conversations with other campers with whom we did not exchange contact information.
Chuck spent a lot of time being helpful. He helped Leanne patch up her paddle board, tried to help another group with their pump, helped Jodi blow up her paddleboard, worked on tire pressure with Devon, gave someone a vehicle battery boost with his portable lithium battery (which worked really well). And finally, when a sudden windstorm started tearing off awnings, helped Jodi get hers retracted (although not before some parts were bent). We also gave a number of RV tours to people considering switching to a van.
Friday was our anniversary. We started off well with a kayak trip on the lake. Chuck also tried out a paddle kayak in exchange for letting the owner try out our blow-up kayaks. We then headed for town for dinner. We were planning on a fancy restaurant, but in the end we went out for Chinese food at a small place on the mall linking the Walmart and the Safeway.
Saturday had a number of options for music and other events. We ended up going with Jodi to Dillon for a “van exhibit”. We toured a lot of van options, including several commercial builds and many self-built models. We also got to see tents that go on the roof of a car or the bed of a 4×4, and a humongous thing built on what appeared to be a military truck. Although we saw some clever ideas, all 3 of us concluded that we like the layout of the Travato the best of what we saw. Only one other layout came close, and it did not have a shower. We concluded the day with a game of Scrabble with Jodi.
Speaking of showers, the campground is “dry” meaning no electricity, water hook-up or sewer. Pit bathrooms are available along with a tap that can be used to fill a water container with drinking water. This put to the test our ability to be off-line. We found that our best bet is 3 days using the water in our fresh water tank, followed by a shower and then a trip to the dump station to empty our waste water tanks and take on more fresh water.
On Monday we drove back towards Idaho Springs and did the 14000 foot ascent of Mount Evans.
This is a very narrow and twisty road, reminiscent of the Virginia Canyon Road – lots of places where the downhill side was essentially a cliff with no guardrail.
A major attraction of the mountain (after the wildflowers) is the mountain goats. Near the summit we were in a traffic jam caused by a small herd of goats on the road.
I was quite concerned because a couple of kids were literally underneath a vehicle licking the pipes. I checked with a ranger later, who said that they try to keep the goats off the road because they like the taste of vehicle fluids — in particular antifreeze. Needless to say, these are not a healthy part of goat diet.
The summit was filled with tourists, mountain goats, marmots and park rangers. The latter were trying (with very limited success) to chase the goats away from the road, vehicles and people. (The marmots were just hanging out as they seem to do.) Despite the possibly bad health effects of human interactions on the wildlife, the goats seemed healthy and frisky. They were certainly abundant.
On the descent we stopped at a wildflower “garden”. Since every place we have been has been filled with wildflowers, it was only slightly more colorful (and a few flowers were labeled). The area also has a large stand of bristlecone pines.
During our stay at Dillon Lake we took several kayaks trips to what we call Eagle Island. On our first trip, we saw 3 bald eagles. On another trip, we saw a bald eagle very close up, looking very iconic. We also saw 3 ospreys (and a nest). Unfortunately, we did not bring our good camera. This photo was taken with my cell phone.
Our last trip we took with Jodi (paddling her paddle board like a kayak). We brought a good camera, and so of course we saw only a single osprey.